Method of making kitchen tools



A. J. EGGLESTON METHOD OF MAKING A KITCHEN TOOL Nov. 18, 1 947. 2,430,977

Filed Feb. 23, 1946 ALLEN J. EGGLESTON INVENTOR FIG. I

ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 18, 1947 ETHOD" FMAKINGI KITCHEN TOO S Allen.J Eggleston; :Chicago, 111., assignor to =Ekco. Products Company; Chicago; 111:, a corporation Application February 23, 1946, Serial N0. 649,645

(Cl..:7fi?105.)

1 Claim; 1.

The invention relatesgenerally to 1 a -method or" making kitchen tools-more particularly to -making a kitchentocl-of the typecomprising asheet metal food-contacting portion rigidlysecuredto a metal stalk or shank having a handle;

The. general; object of theinvention islto provide a novel. construction affil sla; kitchen 1 :tool Got the foregoing: charactenzproviding .;a connection betweenrzthe .sheet; metal. portion. and-the stalk;

which is; iree f alll crevices -zand ;sharp..corners where .dirt or. greasevcould icolleictx thereby arena dering the tool; :leadily 'inaintained gin a. clean, sanitarycondition.

More-specifically; .it. ais wan :objectxto: provide a novel construction 01328. .ikitohen; tool or they foregoin ::character; ccmp i inee stalk formed with a head weld d to the .ssheet rmetal'a. portion of the tool, the weldin extending: zaroundnthe ent e 'rimof the head to completely; close 1 any space therebetween andrew1tin fillet cone necting the head andsheet'metal to avoid a sharp corner therebetween.

Another object isi-to. provides novel construction fora kitchen tool, of this. type, in which the sheet metal portion and 'theheadof the stalk are welded around the entire rim of the latter so that the .assembledparts may be plated without chance of any plating solution lodging be.- tweenthe. head and sheet. metal portionto cause corrosiontherein.

A further object is to provide a;novel method of welding the head of thestalkof a kitchen'tool of. this typeto the sheet metal. portion in; such manner as to avoid 2,11'di'rt-collecting crevices or corners.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a perspective View of a kitchen tool embodying the features of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section taken approximately on the line 22 of Fig. 1 and showing the parts before being secured together.

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, showing the parts after they are secured together.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the parts.

The present invention relates to kitchen tools, such as cake turners, spatulas, spoons, ladles, or forks. Tools of this character comprise generally a stalk having a handle mounted at one end thereof, with the other end of the stalk secured to a food-contacting member made of sheet metal. Throughout the specification and in the claims,

I have referred 'to-such food-contacting member as being a blades However, the -term blade is used hereinwith suflicient breadth to include the flatsheet meta1- member of 'a cake turner or spatula,- or the bowl'member of a -spoon or ladle, or :thetinemember .of=-a =fo'rk, as wellas other similar parts In making tools of this general character, one method heretofore frequently employedis to rivet the stalk-to the blade. Such method has a number :of objections,-among which is a lack of sufficient. strengthand, therefore, a. tendency ,for the tool'tobreak at the point of riveting, unless the riveting is perfe'ctly formed Another objectionris.:that= theriveting-is provided by small bosses formed ;-.on the. head :of :the stalk, thus leaving aslight spacexbetween the. head and the b1ade=in1thesareasaround .thebosses; If the tool is to be plated-thesolutions; used :in plating will seep intoesuch smicean usu ly will not be thor u h y-c eared"therefrom. This may induce corrosion the: space, eventuallywresulting in breaka e- .In. usewthc pr n e isu h a spa e P rmi s' rcase and :dirt to l d e the n. which cannot be: removed inlwashins the to l. Such a constructionfis, therefore,objectionable from the sanita y standpoint.

Another method; heretofore frequently em? ployed, .ofsecuringthe stalk to .theblade is to pro-, vide current. concentrating bosses within the area of.v the. head. of. the. stalk and welding the head to the blade, the actual weld occurringonly with: inthe area of .such'bosses... This again is sub, J'ectto the-same difiiculties and objections of the riveted form, since plating solutions can enter the space between the head and the blade outside of the points of welding, to start corrosion, and in use grease and dirt can enter such space. In some instances, the difficulty of corrosion resulting from the plating operation has been eliminated by separately plating the two parts. This, however, has objections, since it requires separately handling two parts, it necessitates use of detachable anti-nesting devices in plating the blade or bowl member, and it may result in marring the plating when the two parts are riveted or welded together.

The present invention provides a construction which eliminates these diificulties and, at the same time, provides a rigid connection between the head of the stalk and the blade. Such construction utilizes welding to secure the two parts together but completely closes the space between the head of the stalk and the blade. It further provides a fillet connecting the head and the 3 blade, and thus eliminates sharp corners from which grease and dirt cannot readily be removed.

In the drawing, I have disclosed a spoon to illustrate the invention. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the spoon is disclosed as comprising a bowl l (herein more broadly referred to as a blade), a stalk H secured at one end to the bowl l0 and having a handle l2 rigidly secured at its other end. The stalk l I is provided at the blade-securing end with a head l3 provided with a fiat surface [4 adapted to be placed in face-to-fac relation with one face of the bowl H1. The head I3 is adapted to be welded to the bowl and, since the area of the surface 14 is much larger than can be practicably welded throughout its entire area, current concentrating means is provided on the surface 14 to concentrate the Welding current into a relatively small area and thus permit attainment of a Welding temperature without excessive use of current.

In the present instance, the current concentrating means is so formed as to result in complete closure of any space between the surface 14 and the bowl ID, as well as to eliminate any sharp corner therebetween. To this end, the current concentrating means is in the form of a rib extending around the entire rim or periphery of the head IS. The rib 15 can readily be formed in the same operation by which the head I3 is formed. The head I3 is then placed against the surface of the bowl [0 with the rib l5 providing the contact therebetween, as illustrated in Fig. 2. The welding is performed under pressure, tending to force the head [3 and bowl 10 together so that, as the rib l5 becomes heated by the Welding current, the resulting plasticity thereof at the welding temperature will resuit in the rib being forced outwardly to form a fillet, indicated at H5 in Fig. 3, extending around the entire periphery of the head 13, Such fillet eliminates any sharp corner between the head and the bowl and, since the rib becomes integral with the bowl by being welded thereto, any space between the bowl and the head is completely closed around the entire periphery or rim of the head.

The result of the foregoing construction is that, should it be desired to plate the article, no plating solution can enter between the head l3 and the bowl l0 since it is sealed around the entire periphery. By plating the article after the blade and stalk are welded together, separate handling of these two parts is avoided, and no anti-nesting devices are required in the plating since the shape of the complete article prevents such nesting.

The cost of manufacture is thereby reduced. Also, since there is no riveting or welding to be performed after the plating operation, there is less chance of the plating becoming marred. Moreover, the construction similarly prevents grease and dirt from entering therebetween and further eliminates a sharp corner between the head and the bowl, which would be very difiicult to keep clean. The construction is such that it may be readily manufactured since the head IS with its rib I5 can be formed as easily as a head with riveting portions or with small boss-like current concentrating portions as heretofore employed. The bowl requires no special forming operations other than the provision of a substantially flat surface to contact the rib l5. The elimination of any tendency for plating solution to remain between the head and blade, or for dirt and grease to collect therein, prevents corrosion and, therefore, has an obvious advantage over construction heretofore employed. The avoidance of a sharp corner between the head and the blade also permits the tool to be kept clean at such point without effort.

I claim:

The method of making a kitchen tool comprising a blade and a stalk, which comprises forming the blade with a stalk-engaging portion coplanar with the remainder of the blade, forming a flatfaced head on one end of the stalk with a rib projecting substantially perpendicularly from the flat face and extending throughout the periphery of said flat face, placing said head against said stalk-engaging portion of said blade with the rib engaging the surface of said portion, and welding the head and blade together under pressure to force the metal of the rib outwardly and thereby form a fillet sealing the entire rim of the head and elimination a sharp corner at the juncture of the head and blade.

ALLEN J. EGGLESTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 225,789 Benjamin Mar. 23, 1880 239,139 Boardman Mar. 22, 1881 904,540 Lachman Nov. 24, 1908 979,970 Lachman Dec. 27, 1910 2,105,007 Ready Jan. 11, 1938 2,176,436 Ready Oct. 17, 1939 

